Part 1: Declarations of Independence The Declaration of Independence was established on July 4 of 1776. It had many purposes such as getting other colonies to side with them, to explain their view of the purpose of human rights, to turn the colonists against King George and side with them etc. Thomas Jefferson was given all credit for writing the DOI when really it was Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin and John Adam who started the DOI. Not only was Jefferson given all the credit but he also “borrowed” some words and phrases from other authors (Ted-Ed).
The DOI was ritten in order for the 13 american colonies to be free from the British Empire and was ordered by the Continental Congress in the middle of the revolutionary war. The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 25 of 1791. Federalism wanted some kind of centralized government and the anti-federalists were willing of a centralized government only if a bill of rights were to be adopted which secured their rights and gave limits on government power. Alexander did not agree with the BOR because he believed that people were going to take advantage of those rights not included in the BOR.
James Madison proposed 12 amendments but 2 were dismissed and 10 were ratified. After the Declarations of Independence was ratified congress decided to build a Constitution a factor that influenced that decision was shays rebellion which were the farmers who didn’t want to pay there debt making and made riots. Congress believed they needed to strengthen the government therefore the Constitution was created as well as the Bill of Rights which was enacted to protect against giving the central gov too much power and limiting the power of the federal government of the U. S and protected the rights of all citizens.
The final form of the constitution was approved on September 17 of 1787 and ratified the following June. Part 2: Article of Confederations 1. Confederation is when a group of people or nations form an alliance, it is called a confederation, allowing each member to govern itself but agreeing to work together for common causes. 2. The AOC established the functions of the national government of the U. S after it declared independence from Great Britain. The AOC somewhat prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.
As well as creating a central government which was considered to be weak due to very little power. 3. Under the Articles of Confederations the states were more powerful than the central government, which consisted only of a congress. Although Congress was given the jurisdiction to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forced, coin money etc. , it had no power to levy and collect taxes. The states had most of the power. 4. Sovereignty is the full right and power of a governing body to govern itself without any interference form outside sources or body (Tate).
Sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme authority over some polity (Tate). 5. There were many weaknesses in the AOC. Some of those weaknesses was the lack of power that was given to the continental congress for example, giving congress the power to pass laws but not being able to enforce them, no power to levy taxes or regulate trade, therefore the continental congress having no power was their major weakness. Part 3: Constitution/ Bill Of Rights 01. The Constitution was established due to the failure of the Articles of Confederations.
The Articles of Confederations was onsidered to be weak and congress believed they needed something stronger and thats when the thirteen states agreed that the constitution should be established. They did believe they needed a Bill of Rights which limited the power of the government and gave god-given rights to the people. 2. There are seven articles in the constitution: Article 1 being the legislative branch which limits other powers, gives some power to congress etc. Article 2: the executive branch which the president or vice president carry out the laws, how to impeach etc. Article 3: the judicial branch sets the supreme court, defines reason etc. Article 4: the states which create rules for the states to get along with other states etc. Article 5: making amendments which is the addition of amendments to the constitution.
Article 6: supreme law of the land meaning the constitution is the highest law of the land. Finally Article 7: Ratification just like how the constitution became ratified after nine out of thirteen states approved. 4. 39 delegates signed the Constitution on September 17 of 1787 after two months of debates and revisions. Originally there were 55 delegates which discussed the constitution, but out of hose 55 only 39 delegates signed and the remaining 16 did not signed believing that the AOC was better because they believed it checked the power of the central government. 05. There are 27 amendments, but the first 10 were the first amendments to be ratified.
The first ten amendments were proposed by congress in 1789, at their first session then became a part of the constitution on December 15, 1791 which are known to be the Bill of Rights. Why? 7. The U. S Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. It took almost one year for the constitution to get ratified. It was adopted and signed in September of 1787, but the signing it wasn’t enough. The Constitution had to be ratified by at least 9 out of the 13 states before it became binding. The last state to actually sign it was New Hampshire which fulfilled the 9 states signing the constitution therefore it being ratified. Part 4: Bill of Rights 1. The bill of rights was enforce to limit the power of the new federal government and it also protected the people from injustice giving the people goes giving rights. The first ten amendments are considered the bill of rights because they
2. Amendment 1: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, etition. Amendment 2: right to bear arms which allows any one to own a gun for their safety. Amendment 3: quartering of troops which means soldiers do not have the authority to stay in ones home with out the permission of the owner. Amendment 4: search and seizure meaning higher authority does not have the right to enter someones home or take their belongings without a proper warrant. Amendment 5: protects against self- incrimination. Amendment 6: Jury trial, right to counsel. Amendment 7: common law suits, right of trial by jury. Amendment 8: Excess bail or fines, cruel and unusual unishment.
Amendment 9: rights not listed in the constitution are still protected. Amendment 10: power that is not delegated to the U. S is reserved to the states. 3. Part 5: Constitutional Amendments 1. 2. There were originally 33 constitutional amendments that were approved, but out of those 33 only 27 amendments were eventually ratified. The six that did not get ratified are house size, anti-title, “persons held to labor or service”, child labor, equality now, and D. C statehood. House size was a way to regulate the expansion of the hose of representatives as the ountry grew. The reason is was not ratified was because it never got the three-quarter majority of state support needed for ratification. Another amendment was the anti-title amendment which stated that people who accepted gifts from abroad would no longer be a citizen.
3. Part 6: State vs. Federal 1. 2. 3. a. The federal representatives in the congress are Dianne, Kamala and Brad. These three people represent me in congress. b. c. The state congressional representative based on where I live is Brad Sherman and its located in the 30th congressional district of California. . The states senators of California are Dianne Feinstein the senior state senator and the second one is Kamala Harris the junior state senator. The next election for dianne is in 2018, for kamala is in 2022. They are both democrats. 4. The house of representatives is a 435 member body and theU. S senate is a 100 member body. The house of representative has the sole power of impeachment and the senate conduct the impeachment trials. The house of representatives has the authority of the legal removal of federal officials that have committed crimes.
The house of epresentative have a fewer term than the senate. The senate have power more distributed and the U. S house have power less evenly distributed. The house are specialists and the senate are generalists. In order to run for the house of representative you must be 25 years of age, be a resident of the state and a citizen of the untied state for at least 7 years. For a senate you must be 30 years of age, a citizen of the united stated for atlas 9 years, and be a resident of the state as well. Representative are elected by voters in each congressional district and the senate are elected statewide vote.
